Despite slowing somewhat the FTSE continued to hold around a fresh 11 week high on Tuesday, coasting on the back of Brent Crude’s rise.
Though its growth fell to around 20 points, the FTSE managed to keep above 7400, lightyears away from the sub-6850 levels it was seeing just this time last month. There appear to be a couple of reasons why the UK index has lost a bit of its shine. While Brent Crude is still near 4 year highs, it has slipped back below $75 per barrel, a move that has also lessened the gains of Shell (LON:RDSa) and BP (LON:BP) (granted the oil giants are up 0.6% and 1.4% respectively).
There’s also the fact that sterling managed to sneak into the green following a news that the UK has its first current budget surplus since 2002. Admittedly this news only had a limited effect on the pound, which nudged back towards $1.395 against the dollar while teasing €1.1142 against the euro, but it was enough to give the FTSE pause.
Looking to the US open and the Dow Jones is set for a strong start, with the index in line for a 130 point increase when the bell rings on Wall Street. Those gains, which would leave the Dow within touching distance of 24600, are likely informed by Google-owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL); the company posted a whopping 84% surge in first quarter profit, which came in at $9.4 billion against estimates of $6.56 billion.
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